Throwback Thursday: Evelyn “Champagne” King – “Love Come Down”
In July of ’82, Evelyn “Champagne” King released a major chune.
“Love Come Down” was the first single from her fifth album, Get Loose. Written by Kashif and produced by Morrie Brown, the song is peak post-disco — the beat knocks super hard, but overall, the production is less “busy” than your average disco song.
Interestingly, for such an upbeat song, the video is remarkably simple. The good sis is literally walking around on a beach by herself for most of the video, and then has a little picnic situation with her boo at the end. The mismatch between song and video is hilarious on its face, but when put in the larger context of the origins of post-disco — namely, Disco Demolition Night — it is actually quite sad.
To avoid the wrath of disco haters — who were overwhelmingly white, racist and homophobic — lots of former disco stars (like Ms. King) not only stripped down their sound, but their presentation as well. Therefore, it’s not far-fetched to assume that the “Love Come Down” video was deliberate in its simplicity.
Evelyn King turned 60 this week, so this TBT selection is primarily in honor of her milestone birthday. In addition to that, however, it is a tribute to all the amazing black artists who had to navigate through an industry that tried to silence their art for no reason other than racism and jealousy.
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